your time is 6:00. and the rain coming down hard in part of the bay area. and it might not let up for quite some time. let's check your weather and traffic. lawrence gets us started. good morning. >> good morning. we have seen a pretty good soaking around the bay area. looks like it's tapering offer a little bit along the peninsula. some scattered showers here, continuing to trace across the bay and into parts of the east bay. it will be more widely spread toward the middle of the day and the afternoon. we may get some sunny breaks but there are more storms on the horizon. we'll talk about that in a moment. let's check on traffic with elizabeth. >> big probable in livermore. westbound 580, two lanes blocked a multi-vehicle crash, two to three cars involved ambulance on the scene and traffic backups continue to grow. 16 miles per hour towards the accident scene and your drive time as well coming out of the altamont pass, stacking up towards about 20 minutes. so once you get past north greenville, speeds improve but again, this is definitely going

to be our problem spot for right now for the start of the morning commute. much more traffic coming up. in the meantime, back to you guys. >> thank you. it is 6:00. right now, the crisis in japan quickly getting worse. there are reports that a second reactor at that damaged fukushima nuclear power plant may be leaking radiation now. there are also reports of another fire there, as well. >> now workers are getting ready to restart their efforts to prevent a total meltdown. the crews were forced out earlier today because of a surge in radioactivity for the plant. they were allowed to return to the plant a short time ago. a plan to have helicopters drop water to cool the plant was stopped because of high radiation. the government taking actions as concerns grow that radiation could drift here to the west coast. u.s. environmental protection agency has announced it there deploy more electronic monitors that measure radiation in the air. however, the epa has not said

where those monitors will be located or how many will be installed. right now, there are 12 monitors here in california, one of which is right here in san francisco. you might be surprised where the biggest threat from a tsunami here is in the bay area. let's go to christin ayers. she is in oakland, where a big wave could mean some big problems for residents there. christin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sydnie. scientists are telling the "contra costa times" that the biggest threat from a tsunami would come after an earthquake in the southwest corner of alaska. they say it would send a massive tsunami that would hit right here at the port of oakland. it wetback four or five hours for that tsunami to get here and if we take a look at the maps from that study, you can see why oakland and alameda would be right smack in the middle of the most massive flooding. he they are in a perfect position to get the brunt of a tsunami up to 165 structures in

this area would be threatened if that were to happen and we of course saw some of the devastating effects that a relatively minor tsunami had on santa cruz harbor on friday. he experts say that area and any area of santa clara county would be spared. one of the factors is the port itself, large ships and shipping containers, it could cause a lot of damage in this area if a tsunami were to hit. experts are saying it's unlikely one would hit anytime soon but it's good to be prepared just in case. >> absolutely. thank you, christin ayers in oakland. dozens of bay area college students will be forced to return home from japan. 12 students from san francisco university and 35 from stanford have been studying in japan as part of a state program. it's been suspended for the first time in 45 years ago. it's unclear when the students will return home. the airports are packed with

passengers obviously trying to get out of japan. take a look at the pictures. these are new to the newsroom here. new images out of crescent city from the tsunami. the fierce waves beat up the harbor up there, tangling and sinking some of the vessels, as well. port officials say 63 boats were damaged by tsunami. the damage at santa cruz harbor could be more than $25 million more than 8 million than they previously thought. and pg&e says it's going to be aggressive in testing or replacing hundreds of miles of gas pipeline. meanwhile, the utility admits it doesn't have evidence of some of the previous tests. anne makovec joins us from san bruno, the site of the deadly pipeline explosion last year, joins us live. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. pg&e talking this morning about its plans to test more lines and replace more lines but it really has no choice because those are the orders from the california public utilities commission. also, the utility was set to provide a whole bunch of records to the public utilities

commission by 5 p.m. last night. and that report came back incomplete. they are especially supposed to be looking at the records from gas pipeline in, quote, high consequence areas, areas like this neighborhood here in san bruno where homes and businesses could be destroyed similar to what we saw on september 9, last year, when an aged pipeline blew up here in this neighborhood. so pg&e has been working on providing paperwork. the history of the pressure level that they have operated a lot of their pipelines at over the past five decades. pg&e says it was able to come up with at least some of the records for 90% of the pipelines in question. but many of the records are still missing. pressure test records for the pipeline segment here in san bruno have not even been identified. so they are still trying to work on a lot of the records and they are also talking about some plans for the future including in-line inspections talking about sending in those

smart pigs, those little camera testers that we have been talking about for several months. also talking about more pressure testing with water but things like that require shutting down the line. also, very expensive. so pg&e has not yet talked about exactly how they are going to unveil their, quote, aggressive plan to do more testing. but they do say they are going to do a lot of this testing during the summer months when demand for gas is less. frank? >> well, that makes sense. okay, anne makovec live in san bruno, thank you. so you think it's raining hard now just wait until friday. at least that's the word from lawrence with the very wet outlook for this week and the weekend, as well. >> yeah, guys. we just continue to see storm after storm. you know, the door wide open. there is no ridge of high pressure on the west coast so there is a trough that allows the storm system to sweep on shore. showers there around the bay area starting to wind down a bit outside becoming more scattered but in towards san

bruno where anne was just at, you can see some of the showers there. those continue to make their way in across the area and we are going to see more of that throughout the day today. almost a half inch of rain in san francisco and quarter inch in redwood city. this storm system moving by, behind that chance of showers but nothing too bad. temperatures in the 50s and 60s for highs today. friday another soaker. let's check traffic. >> the ride on westbound 580 through livermore not getting better. in fact, we have a sea of red traffic sensors near north greenville road meaning speeds under 25 hours. the kcbs phone force says the traffic is backed up well on 205. so as you can see, it is very slow ride right now coming out

of the altamont pass. two to three cars approaching north greenville debris scattered in the roadway. drive time 21 minutes towards 680 and the dublin interchange. more traffic coming up. back to you. >> the numbers are staggering. teachers who may have to find new jobs, we are going to tell you how many got pink slipped. >> plus new fallout from the police misconduct investigation. what we're now learning about the controversial searches. and one restaurant customer getting a little more than just food on her plate. her lawsuit and why she has to be tested for hiv. that and much more coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,

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♪ hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me! saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. we have some scattered showers around the bay area folks, you headed out the door? bring that umbrella with you. more rain showing up now and more on the way. we'll have details in a bit. thank you. 19,000 teachers, that is the number of educators in california who may have to find a new job. >> no teachers left behind! >> in oakland, 657 teachers

received pink slips yesterday depending on what happens with the state budget, districts will decide by may 15 how many teachers will lose their jobs. meantime, the senate expected to vote today on the state budget. governor jerry brown has been negotiating with republicans over putting tax extensions on the ballot. california's facing a $26 billion deficit. another key vote scheduled today this one in our nation's capital. the senate is expected to pass another temporary funding measure that would prevent a government shutdown. the house approved it yesterday. the bill would keep the government up and running for another three weeks and give lawmakers a little more time to hammer out a longer term plan. and the top u.s. commander in afghanistan says he will soon recommend a plan for starting troop reductions there. general david petraeus telling lawmakers the united states is on course to begin pulling american forces out in july and shifting responsibility to the afghan people. he said the tide is turning

against the taliban, despite concerns about government corruption there. it is 6:13. first came the training, then the warnings. the new bay area law finally being enforced after months of talk. and how would you like to name your own price for a pair of pants? hey, why not? new way to shop at the gap, coming up. and we are off to a wet start. here's a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza where the commute looks okay, but we have big backups right now on westbound 580 through livermore. we'll give you an update on that after the break. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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come on! [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] join rapid rewards and enjoy unlimited reward seats, no blackout dates, and no red tape. ♪ cond ing we are back. it's 6:16. here's a look at today's top stories. conditions appear to be getting worse at that damaged nuclear power plant in japan. workers forced to leave the plant earlier today because of a surge in radiation levels. they were told to return after levels came back down. military helicopters had been surveying radiation levels above the complex since. and pg&e says it plans to test or replace hundreds of miles of gas pipelines. in a statement issued yesterday, the company says it will target 152 miles of untested pipe similar to the

line that exploded in san bruno last year. is starbucks taking over peet's could have knee is according to the deal reporter, peet's recently met with starbucks about a potential sale. no word on how likely the deal is. peet's based in emeryville has 192 stores in six states. scattered showers showing up outside right now. heavier early on last hour but things are tapering off a bit. out the door plan on showers toward redwood city, san carlos, belmont. watch out along 101, likely to run into rain along that area, too. and we are getting reports of a couple of patches of dense fog so be careful especially traveling over skyline boulevard. you will see dense fog there. still showers will continue this morning. temperatures not all that bad around the bay area mainly into the 50s. i think as we head toward the afternoon, we are going to sneak in a couple of sunny

breaks and showers will become much more widespread outside. probably a little breezy toward the coastline and inside the bay. all right. here's your storm system making its way onshore. pretty good soaker around the bay area, lots of snow up in the sierra nevada. you're going to need chains heading to the high country for today. it looks like the showers going to taper off just a bit today. there is still a slight chance not really enthusiastic about it for tomorrow just a chance of some scattered showers for tomorrow but after that, things begin to get wet again. a pretty good soaker coming in our direction as we look toward friday. temperatures around the bay area today planning on a couple of 50s and 60s. a few sunny breaks to be made up in parts of the east bay by the afternoon. temperatures there going to stay down, though, mainly into the 50s and 60s. looks like we'll keep the temperatures cooler in the north bay mainly into the 50s and 60s. these next areas of storms will be colder storms moving into the bay area. maybe even seeing some snow down to 3,000 feet toward friday. showers likely to continue on saturday, another soaker

sunday, more showers monday and tuesday. that keeps elizabeth very busy with traffic. >> we have big problems in livermore. one lane still blocked, unfortunately. this is the scene of a multi- vehicle crash. an ambulance was on scene tow crew just got there. westbound 580 near north greenville road. bridget from the kcbs phone force tells us that speeds are very slow across the stretch. you can see our live sensors there picking up speeds about 13 miles an hour. traffic ajammed solid beyond the altamont pass all the way toward 205 so you can see that long line of red traffic sensors, 23 minutes right now is your drive coming out of the altamont pass out towards the dublin interchange. and, you know, that continues to update. i wouldn't be surprised if that was actually a little bit longer. it sounds like several vehicles, two to three cars, in any event, possibly a big rig, were involved in that crash. outside, yeah, slick surfaces to start off your morning commute. here's a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. so far they have not turned the

metering lights on. this is typically the time when they do turn them on so right now you are delay-free approaching the pay gates, which will probably change relatively shortly but for right now you're pretty good from the incline towards the "s" curve. traffic moving along fine on the golden gate bridge. looking good in marin county. take it extra slow. use mass transit if you can. if you are planning a trip to the sierra, pack your chains. we have seen some pretty traffic shots up by truckee and here's one by applegate. chains required now on interstate 80, highways 530 and 88. remember our radio partners, kcbs 740-am and 106.9-fm. that's your weather and traffic. back to you. >> thank you. a new mexico woman is suing chili's restaurant. she says a sewing needle pierced her tongue while she was eating a side of mashed potatoes. the 23-year-old woman says she pulled a 2" long needle from her mouth after eating at a

chili's last july. she says employees quickly took the needle and refused to give it back when she requested it for testing. she says it then took 52 days for the restaurant to send that needle to a lab. that's not good. neither is this. check your freezer. some frozen dinners are all being recalled. >> nestle recalling lean cuisine simple favorites spaghetti with meatballs. some customers had complained that they found pieces of red plastic in the meatballs. the recalled packages were produced in october of last year. well, it's like priceline for pants. gap inviting shoppers now name their price on 18 different pairs of khakis for men. men make an offer and then gap counters and then you can counter. this arrangement on gapmyprice.com ends today. i wonder how many men shop for their pants online. they wouldn't do it for women because they would be all over for it. >> it's like gambling. >> if you know the type of

style you like jump on it. >> i don't know my size. i don't think i'll be doing it. some guys are out there, why not. 6:21. netfli getting original. the new content coming zoom. >> and the mobile payment service google is testing the next time you want to shop. ,,,,,,,,,,

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police misconduct in san more criminals just got a "get out of jail free" card. >> they did. it's all because of an alleged police misconduct in san francisco. prosecutors have now dropped 68 cases. a group of police officers all under investigation for allegedly conducting searches without warrants. this is hotel surveillance video of some of the raids that surfaced nearly two weeks ago. most of the dropped cases involve drug accusations. but some are for armed robbery and assault. police are now starting to enforce a law aimed at curbing san francisco's chronic panhandling problem. it's known as the sit-lie ordinance so named because it restricts sitting and lying on sidewalks. police had been issuing just warnings, but since last thursday, officers have been enforcing the law. >> well, the law itself was written for a gentle rollout in which, if you advise somebody that they are in violation of the law and they comply with the law, that's the end of it. >> no, hey, you guys, we don't

mind you guys making a documentary, but give us some money so we can drink some beer. >> the voter-approved initiative makes it illegal to sit or lie along public sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. well, it is 6:26. they are just getting back to work in japan to try to prevent a nuclear meltdown. >> we'll tell you why the operation came to a frightening standstill overnight. a live report from tokyo coming up. and what experts say it would take for a huge tsunami to hit the bay area and where it would land. and pg&e under pressure about the pressure of its natural gas pipeline and the records of that pressure. we'll have the details coming up. a bit soggy to start out the day. we'll let you know how much long they are rain is going to last. we'll talk about that coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. kohara. 'm frank mallicoa good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, the 16th of march. i'm sydnie kohara. >> hi, everybody. i'm frank mallicoat. time now is approaching 6:30. let's start with a check of the weather. the animals are beginning to line up two by two, lawrence. >> they may start getting on board here with all the rain that we have coming our way, folks. we have had some pretty good soaking rains early on today.

it has started to taper off a little around the bay area. still, be careful traveling outside. on the san mateo bridge, 92, you have the rain making its way in that direction. we have more rain on the way. we'll talk about a bigger storm on the horizon. first a check of traffic with elizabeth. >> back out to livermore, our hotspot right now. the good news is they just cleared this multi-vehicle accident out of lanes. so all lanes once again re- opened westbound 580 at north greenville road. unfortunately, we are still left with a lot of slow traffic. 20 miles per hour right now and it is slow going from beyond the altamont pass all the way out towards 205. there is a look at your growing drive time. 21 minutes on westbound 580 from the altamont pass to the dublin interchange. now, the good news is that speeds improve once you get closer to 680 and the dublin interchange. and they just re-opened all lanes. back to you. >> thank you. the latest word from japan is that workers are preparing

to return to that damaged nuclear power plant. there was a surge in radiation at the plant that forced them to leave earlier today. military helicopters have been checking radiation levels above the complex. those levels have dropped since the earlier surge. >> and charlie d'agata joins us live from tokyo with the latest on the nuclear situation there. charlie, i guess good evening to you. what can you tell us? what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning to you, frank. well, i can tell you that i now mentioned earlier, sydnie mentioned earlier, that workers were preparing to return to the nuclear power plant. they have returned to the nuclear power plant. between 50 and 70 people called the fukushima 50, 50 or 70, that are being rotated and working around the clock even as we speak trying to keep the temperatures low, particularly around unit 2, the reactor 2 and 3. the information that we are getting from the operators

of the plant is that they are maintaining at the moment, especially in reactor 2, keeping down the temperature and keeping down the pressure. everybody is wondering now why aren't more resources aren't being thrown into tackling the problem there. as you said, they flew two helicopters over there today and they determined that the radiation levels were too high for another plan they were considering, which is trying to dump sea water and boric acid into the plant from above in an effort to contain the radiation there. >> charlie, you talked about the fact that there have been evacuations. we hear that the u.s. -- japan is requesting medicine now from the u.s. what are the living conditions there? are people just trying to get out at this point or just trying to survive? >> reporter: -- >> reporter: sydnie, a little bit of both. you know, one of the most tragic elements of what's unfolding outside the nuclear power plant is the fact that

it's happening right next to the area that was hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami that followed. you already have a huge refugee situation there, 450,000 people who are now in tents in the area. once they widen the zone, the exclusion zone around that plant, ten circled another 450,000 people. -- it encircled another 450,000 people. even the governor of the region said i don't know where they are going it go. we don't have tents or warm meals, very cold here. we don't have the supplies to provide for these people who are now in this new crisis. we have found people even here about 150 miles away from the plant -- we ran into a family today a young guy with a couple of kids and wife and once they found out that the government was saying, look, you're inside that exclusion zone, the only thing you can do is stay locked indoors, keep the windows shut,

keep the doors shut, don't drink any tap water, the first thing he did, he grabbed everything he could, grabbed his two little children and wife and fled as far as he could out to this area. and i asked him, he said, the sad thing, and he was patting his son's head, he said, they may already be exposed. the damage may already be done. he doesn't trust the government. he said he doesn't know what he is going to do now. the fact, anybody who is in the shadow of this nuclear power plant even 150 miles away, until they determine what exactly is coming out of it, if it's going to get worse over the next few days, then if there is going to be a change in the wind that's going to blow back any of this radioactive material towards the area where they have been hit hardest by the earthquake and the tsunami or of course, you know, tokyo just 150 miles away, where they have already picked up low doses of radiation. >> wow. >> all right, charlie, thanks so much for joining us. charlie d'agata live in japan.

thanks again. very, very tough situation there. well, the east bay is the most vulnerable part of the bay area. the tsunami rushed through the golden gate. christin ayers is in oakland checking the new maps showing the danger zones and joins us now. good morning, christin. >> good morning. tsunami experts are telling the "contra costa times" that all it would take would be a massive earthquake, 9.0 or higher in southwest alaska to send a tsunami headed straight towards this area. and the places that would be hit hardest, alameda and oakland. if you take a look at the maps that researchers are using, you can see that alameda county is right at the end of the golden gate strait. that puts it in a perfect position to be pummeled by tsunami waves in the event of an alaskan quake as we said of 9.0 or higher. the damage would be extensive. we are talking about 165 structures damaged in alameda county, 121 in san francisco. and 35 structures damaged in san mateo county. contra costa and santa clara

counties would largely be spared and so would santa cruz harbor. we saw friday how damaging a relatively small tsunami was there but a large alaska quake would likely not have much of an impact beyond the south bay. scientists are saying that it would take about four or five hours for a tsunami of that magnitude to reach this area. of course, ships, the massive cargo containers that are out here, would certainly be in danger along with the thousands of employees who typically work here on a daily basis at oakland harbor. scientists are saying there is not a huge likelihood that this sort of tsunami is imminent but that it's important to be armed with the information to be prepared anyway. frank? >> yeah, always be prepared that's a good thing. christin ayers live in oakland, thank you. it is 6:36. no, you don't really want to hear this but there is more rain to start your morning. >> really? >> it could stick around for quite some time. i'll let lawrence give you the

news. >> we had a good soaking early on but it's tapering off a bit. a closer look now, parts of the east bay we have some rain making its way into the dublin area, but these are more light showers that are moving on through now. expect that to continue on and off throughout the morning hours and then by about the middle of the day we are expecting less rainfall. and maybe even a couple of sunny breaks to break on through. so it has been a good soaker, almost 1.5" of rain in santa rosa, half inch of rain in san francisco, over a tenth into san jose. storm clouds still hanging around and, well, we have more off the coast. temperatures expected today to be in the 50s and 60s. so enjoy those sunny breaks because we have more storms abrewing. all right. let's get a check of traffic with elizabeth. >> all right. yeah, and these wet roads not making it any easier on our morning commute. here's a look at orinda now, new accident just coming in westbound 24 approaching camino pablo an accident involving a fedex van and car blocking one lane. john with the kcbs phone force

tells us traffic just beginning to slow. and you can see it as well on some of our traffic sensors through that stretch. all right. better news slightly coming out of the altamont pass. still heavy traffic westbound 580 from 205 to the dublin interchange. all lanes once again re-opened after a multi-vehicle crash approaching north greenville road. chp may still be on scene but off the shoulder. that's your traffic. back to you. >> thank you. 6:38. pg&e now says hundreds of miles of its gas pipeline system will be tested or replaced. let's go to anne makovec as she tells us that's because some critical information is missing. anne, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. yes, some of the records pg&e was supposed to produce to the public utilities commission by last night, they were not able to do so. and a lot of the questions this morning are centering around pressure, what sort of pressure should these lines be running at and what lines may have been damaged by pressure spiking that has gone on in the past.

pg&e has been going through records since the public utilities commission ordered them to produce the history of lines in high consequence areas like san bruno. pg&e came up with 90% of the records. one-third of the reports are still missing and some may be false like the records on the pipeline that blew here, because pg&e initially called this pipeline seamless and it turns out that it did indeed have a seam that may have been faulty. now, here's what we are hearing from chris johns, the president of pg&e this morning. "we have made good progress on our records validation. we are not satisfied with the request to date -- with the results, rather to date and we'll continue to search for and review our files for additional pressure test records." they are also going to be replacing some of their lines as well as inspecting more of them. and the inspections are going a little farther than pg&e has in the past. they are going to be using

cameras in the lines as well as doing some high pressure water testing. but that is going to require shutting down some of the lines. pg&e this morning calling this an aggressive plan to test and replace some 150 miles of its lines. they are going to wait to do some of it, though, until this summer, where the demand for gas is at a lower level. >> thank you, anne makovec in san bruno. time now 6:40. mailed movies are easy to watch but now netflix is eying being like a tv network. >> no cash or credit cards? you soon might be able to pay for stuff with your phone coming up. and the stock market opening just about 10 minutes ago. a quick check of the early numbers, and oh, everything in negative territory. dow jones industrial average down about 66.5. coming up we'll get an update from jason brooks with kcbs and cbsmoneywatch.com. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

worst nightmare? netflix already mastered the movie-rental business.. now as k-c-b-s radio's matt bigler tells us... it may be gett hollywood's worst nightmare netflix already mastered the movie rental business. and now as kcbs radio's matt bigler tells us, it may be

getting into something new, as well. he joins us live from san jose. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning. that's right. there is a report out that netflix is bidding on original content, original tv series, that hasn't been seen on cable, it hasn't been seen in the movie theater, nobody has seen it. it would be seen first for netflix subscribers. this would mark a new strategy for netflix. let me tell you about the show, it's called house of cards based on a novel about a would- be successor to margaret thatcher and stars kevin spacey. this is all in the formative phase, nothing official. but we talked to cbs tech analyst larry magid and he said if netflix is able to do this to provide original content to subscribers it would cement netflix's role as a premium content provider. >> not only provides you with the rebroadcast of old programming like movies and tv shows but as an original

content creator. it puts them in the same league in some ways as hbo and showtime. >> reporter: now, hbo is bidding on this show as well as amc. according to deadline.com, this two season series is valued at over $100 million, which apparently according to some industry insiders is priced a little bit high at this point. there are no final deals so this is all just in the initial phases, just the talks are going on at this point. that's the latest from silicon valley. back to you guys. >> must be a really good show, huh? $100million already? >> reporter: kevin spacecy . i'm watching. >> i would, too. good stuff. okay, kcbs radio's matt bigler. thank you. if you are stepping outside today a soggy beginning around the bay area. things lightening up a little bit but we are still seeing some rain out there in spots. you see a nice line stretching down into parts of newark into fremont, just to the north, as well. so we are expecting some more light showers continuing and there is more moisture coming

in off the pacific. so scattered showers likely to continue through the morning hours. and then begin to taper off as we head in toward the middle of the day and the afternoon. still it doesn't look like a total rainout for today but if you are heading out the door, we have plenty of rainfall out there and it's going to be unsettled early on temperatures in the 50s. by the afternoon, more sunny breaks and breezy around the bay area. starting to pick up a breeze now but it will be picking up in toward the afternoon hours. temperatures in the 50s and 60s. so we have a cold front that's bearing down on california sliding through our area now, making its way up in the sierra nevada, where you do need chains if you're crossing the mountaintops there. showers for today, behind that though it looks like at least a slight chance of showers for thursday. doesn't look like a real big deal but that could change on friday. that looks like a bigger deal as the storm system begins to move in. it's expected to bring us a soaker on friday. temperatures into the 50s and 60s in much of the south bay. east bay temperatures, starting out cloudy and a bit wet but by the afternoon, a couple of sunny breaks. we'll bring temperatures up

into the 50s and 60s, as well. plan on plenty of 50s and low 60s in parts of the north bay. over the next few days, rain on tap, slight chance of showers for tomorrow. doesn't look like a real big deal but more significant rainfall moving in come friday. showers into saturday, and more rain into sunday. right now, let's get a look at your traffic with elizabeth. >> all right, thank you, lawrence. yeah, keeping us pretty busy this morning in the traffic department. lots of different -- more minor accidents, we are seeing bigger ones earlier, as well. the bay bridge toll plaza, metering lights are on. so we are starting to see some backups now. we were seeing standing water in those middle lanes earlier this morning, as well. some cars making some splashes. not the case anymore because now they are waiting in traffic and it's pretty slow from the incline all the way towards the "s" curve. here's a live look at 880 through oakland, busy in the commute direction. those taillights, that's northbound 880 heading up towards downtown. 16 minutes is your drive time between 238 and the macarthur maze. i mentioned a couple of

accidents. this one is still out there pretty slow ride right now through orinda. couple of members of the kcbs phone force telling us it's jammed westbound 24 approaching camino pablo, one lane blocked. that was an accident involving a fedex truck and car. also, still a pretty slow ride as well out of the altamont pass. jammed from 205 really all the way out towards north greenville, the scene of an earlier accident involving a couple of vehicles. to the south bay we go now. looks okay here actually coming out of downtown san jose. no problems in the northbound lanes of 280 approaching the 880 interchange. and if you are continuing your journey along the peninsula, 101, 280, both moving fine right now as you head into san francisco. traffic shot just died but it looked good as you approach the third street exit. all right. mass transit great day to use mass transit. everything is on time for bart, ace, muni and caltrain. remember our radio partners, kcbs 740-am and 106.9-fm. that is your traffic and your

weather. back to you. >> thank you. international issues and new domestic numbers are driving the market down this morning. >> let's go to jason brooks with kcbs and cbsmoneywatch.com. jason, good morning. not looking good in the early going. >> reporter: no, not the start we wanted, sydnie. good morning. overseas issues continue to be a primary concern with the ongoing nuclear crisis in japan. although the nikkei, japan stock exchange did rebound a bit today up 5.5% after losing 17% the prior two days. the bank of japan infusing more money into the japanese markets to stabilize that economy. and also, you have bahrain where there is growing unrest over there after saudi troops entered the country protect that kingdom's monarchy from the shiite majority. that is causing a lot of concern in the oil markets because that would affect shipments to the the persian gulf and the straits of hormuz so you have oil prices heading

up. traders aren't excited about some of the reports. we have the producer price index up 1.6%. this is wholesale prices. that was a bigger-than-expected gain and twice the gain that we saw in january mainly coming from gas and food. that's not a surprise. food in particular up nearly 4%. the biggest gain in 36 years. the fed though looks at the core rate which was basically flat and that's why it's sticking with its current plan of keeping interest rates low. the housing industry continues to dive. builders really having problems, housing starts down 22% in february from the prior month, second lowest rate on record. so it's shaping up to be a poor start on wall street. right now taking a look at the markets the dow is lower by 80 points after dropping 13 8 yesterday. nasdaq down by 12 and the s&p, frank and sydnie, is lower by 7. >> tough day, huh? >> mm-hm. looking that way. >> all right, thank you, jason brooks with kcbs and cbsmoneywatch.com.

time now for a look at what's coming up a little bit later on "the early show." >> and erica hill joins us from new york. good morning. >> just ahead panic is spreading in japan as the crippled nuclear plant in fukushima catches fire again. toxic levels of radiation spilling into the atmosphere. we are hearing reports of contaminated ground water. we'll get you the latest on that. also, on the heroic efforts of the so-called faithful 50 who stayed lined to avoid a full- scale catastrophe there. antiradiation medicine is actually flying off the shelves in california. there are there are concerns that the wind will carry the radiation across the pacific to california and to the us west coast. how much of a threat is that really? we are going to get you the answer this morning.

and a rather uplifting story to round this all out. we have been following this for a couple of months now. the two kids you see there, two utah high schoolers suffered a life-threatening lightning strike in the fall. they actually died for about a half hour each. came back to life. now they are here with us in the studio this morning along with their mothers to tell us about their recovery. it is quite a story. and it is coming your way this morning on "the early show." >> we can all use some good news. >> thank you, erica. we'll see you at 7:00. well, cash or credit? how about smart phones? huh? google may soon start testing out its mobile payment system in san francisco. according to bloomberg, people familiar with the project say the service will be available in the next four months. the technology would allow shoppers to ring up their purchases with their phones, their smart phones. the service will also be tested in new york. and for the first time in 70 years, a bay area teen has won the nation's top science competition. evan o'dorney, taking first place last night in the intel

science talent search. the danville 17-year-old beating out 39 other finalists from across the country. he found the answer to a previously unsolved theoretically math problem. he will use $100,000 prize to go to harvard in the following. in 2007 he won the national spelling bee, as well. >> that $100,000 would get him through the first semester. >> i imagine they might offer him a full ride. it's a great honor. it's 6:53. if a tsunami surged in the san francisco bay area the cities that would probably suffer the most damage straight ahead. >> also it admits it lost crucial evidence. now in light of the disaster, pg&e's plans for hundreds of miles of its pipelines. >> and if you have a story idea out there or comment you would like to share with us, email that guy right there say hello

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6:56 your time. pg&e claims it's going to be aggressive in testing and replacing hundreds of miles of gas pipeline and meanwhile, the utility admits it doesn't have evidence of some previous tests. anne makovec joins us from san bruno. okay. we lost anne. so we will move on to the next story. syd, all yours. well, the east bay is likely to be hit the hardest if a tsunami comes through the golden gate into san francisco bay. new maps show areas that could be inundated by such a tsunami, a lot of that area is flat. the "mercury news" says experts, though, don't really think the risk is very great but they have identified 365 critical facilities that could be damaged by a tsunami in the bay. well, as mentioned a few minutes ago, pg&e claims it's going to be aggressive in testing and replacing hundreds of miles of that gas pipeline and right now, it admits it does not have evidence some of the previous tests. we have anne makovec now live in san bruno joins us with the

very latest. good morning, anne. >> reporter: good morning, i apologize we are having some technical difficulties. here in san bruno, of course, everybody was waiting for the deadline, which was 5:00 yesterday, for pg&e to produce all of its records on pipelines running through high consequence areas like here in this area to the public utilities commission. well, pg&e was not able to complete the job. they are still missing a lot of those records. so again, looking at high consequence areas, places where homes and businesses could be damaged, that's where the utility is focusing its search for the records and also its plans for replacing some of the lines because pressure test records for the pipeline segment even here in san bruno have not been identified at this point. so they are planning more in line inspections in the meantime on the lines that they have identified that could be risky including sending in cameras through these lines and also doing some high pressure water testing. they are talking about a very

aggressive plan, quote, unquote, according to pg&e that is going to start in the very near future but a lot of these high pressure tests are going to be put off until this summer when there is less demand for gas. >> i'm sure the folks in san bruno are saying bring it on. anne makovec live in san bruno, thank you, anne. all right. we have some showers around the bay area today, continuing to see some scattered light showers right now. they are diminishing though as we head through the show today. you can see the scattered showers into parts of the south bay at this time through fremont in trailing in towards san jose. and also in towards the livermore valley. we'll see less of that heading into the afternoon. so we are going to try and part the clouds and bring a little sunshine but more showers are on the way staying wet every day for the next seven days. all right, let's check on traffic with elizabeth. >> all right. one last check. we'll take you back to orinda. it is a slow ride now on westbound 24 from lafayette towards about camino pablo the scene of an accident. the good news is the bay bridge not too backed